Asia markets gain

Asian markets gained Tuesday following fresh records on Wall Street, with investors cheered by the release of strong economic data.

All three US indices ended at records, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.7 percent Monday.

Analysts said the markets were unaffected by a mass shooting at a Las Vegas hotel that left at least 59 dead and hundreds injured.

“The global markets trudge on searching for opportunities realising these tragedies are becoming all too commonplace,” said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at OANDA.

“And as cynical as that may seem, that is the reality we’ve come to accept,” he added.

US manufacturing activity rose to its highest level in September in 13 years, making investors bullish about the third-quarter US earnings season, which begins in around 10 days.

Companies in the S&P 500 are projected to report a five percent year-over-year gain in operating earnings-per-share (EPS), according to CFRA Research.

US President Donald Trump’s market-friendly tax reform proposals, including a plan to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, have also buoyed investors.

Hong Kong rose 1.5 percent after a long weekend and Tokyo gained 0.7 percent while Singapore edged down 0.2 percent.

Japanese banks and automakers were higher despite an announcement from Nissan late Monday it was recalling some 1.2 million cars in Japan that had failed to meet domestic rules on vehicle inspections.

The gains came after the Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey showed business confidence had hit its highest level in a decade.

‘Risk aversion waning’

“Global growth folks, global growth. That’s the economic story of the night as the raft of manufacturing PMI’s released in the past 24 hours tell the story of a continuation of this trend toward synchronisation and strength,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.

“Gold continues to fall as the global economy grows... (and) as risk aversion wanes,” he added.

Equity markets in London, Paris and Frankfurt also rose but Spain’s IBEX index fell 1.2 percent and the euro slid against the dollar following a police crackdown on the banned Catalonia independence referendum.

Catalonia’s leader declared victory in the referendum to secede from Spain, prompting a warning from Madrid that it would do “everything within the law” to prevent the region from declaring independence.

The referendum was marred by shocking scenes of police violence with security forces moving in on polling stations across the region to stop people from voting, in some cases using batons and firing rubber bullets to disperse crowds.